1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a folded box gluing machine for processing of folded box blanks, including at least one feeder unit for filling a downstream processing station, a folding station, a glue applicator unit, a transfer station, especially with an exiting mechanism, a gathering and pressing mechanism and a safety mechanism for a machine portion which presents a danger to the human operator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Folded box gluing machines for producing folded boxes from folded box blanks usually have at least the following modules as processing stations:                A feeder unit, which pulls the blanks being processed at high speed from a stack, one after the other, and feeds them individually to the first processing station downstream.        An adhesive applicator unit, usually for glue, which applies a strip of adhesive to the folded flaps being glued together.        A folding station, where the parts of the cut blank provided with a glue strip are moved through 180°, i.e., folded, to make a glue connection.        
After the folding station, a transfer station is typically provided, where the boxes can be counted, marked, and fed therethrough. After this, a gathering and pressing station is provided, at the start of which a stream of folded blanks is formed, which is held under pressure for a desired time in the pressing station, so that the two portions of the blank are joined at the glue seam.
In order to make folds transverse to the direction of transport of the folded box blanks, additional devices are installed in the folded box gluing machine. Such devices are known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,018. They are used to make folded boxes with or without triangular flaps, as is customary for the 4-point, 6-point, folded bottom or special boxes. In one known device of this type, the rear folding tools are hooks mounted beneath the transport level, which grab from underneath the rear web, initially lying flat, with their free ends bent at right angles and overtake the blank as it continues to be transported, so that the web is folded inward and lies flat on the folded box blank. Such a folding tool is also called an overtaking hook. In order to make such overtaking hooks safe for the operator of the machine, and they move very fast during the operation of the folded box gluing machine, this area can be provided with an entry protection, such as a safety door. But these safety measures needlessly restrict the accessibility of the folded box gluing machine, especially when processing blanks that are to be processed without the use of overtaking hooks.
DE 10 2004 022 212 A1 discloses a folded box gluing machine with a safety mechanism in the form of a light curtain. The light curtain is arranged in side uprights of the folded box gluing machine and can be optionally activated or deactivated, depending on whether or not an overtaking hook is used.
Such safety mechanisms protect the machine operator from injuries caused by the overtaking shafts or hooks of the machine. Adjustment of the overtaking shafts or hooks and of the folded box produced by the folding process is possible at a standstill or up to a ground speed of the machine of about 20 m/min. But as soon as the speed of the machine is greater than the ground speed of the machine, the light curtain of the machine is switched on. For the machine operator, this means that he must be outside of the light curtain in order for the machine to run at production speed.
Since the side uprights in which the safety mechanism is installed have a spacing of about 1 m from the machine, it is nearly impossible for the operator to observe whether the process sequences are running properly, for example, at the middle of the machine or in the rough crusher. Thus, the machine operator cannot know where an adjustment change might need to be made in the folding elements to adapt the folding process to the machine speed.
DE 103 10 236 B3 discloses a safety mechanism in the delivery unit of a sheet processing machine, wherein the operator can deactivate individual access areas by an input device to carry out a servicing for a predetermined interval of time. But providing such a deactivation for a folded box gluing machine as disclosed in DE 10 2004 022 212 A1 presents the risk that the operator will be tempted to reach into the running machine to make necessary adjustments, since the operator has both hands free. Thus, the risk of injury is not sufficiently minimized.